Vlissingen, Netherlands, Antwerp/Brussels, Belgium,

I’m delinquent with my blog – in fact, three ports behind. It’s been such a blur the past few days. A group of folks we bonded with grew in size over the first few weeks to the extent that our on-board merrymaking was more fun than writing! Most all departed in Amsterdam yesterday, and the only three remaining are ship employees – the Assistant Cruise Director (Johnathon), one musician from the band, (Hannah), and the Location Guide (Dorine). They’re much younger than us but we have a good time with them. We could easily pass for their parents!

First, our farewell to tablemates Kathy, Linda, Frank, & Buddy. The latter a State Rep from the Georgia government – many interesting political conversations with him. Table comedian Frank kept jaws dropped and smiles on our faces at dinner – many nights we were the last folks out...laughing all the way! Great group – very enjoyable company. Two very special new friends from the DFW area; Irma & her granddaughter, Shannon. Irma was one of those folks you seldom meet – always smiling, very kind, thoughtful, yet devilish and loads of fun! Shannon reminded us of our 2nd daughter, Renee. Full of spunk, spirit, determination, courage & guts! Moreso…very beautiful, inside & out! We had such a great time with those two, and have promised each other to stay in touch. Jim & Gwen – a couple we ran into a couple weeks ago at breakfast – super nice people from Canada. We often opened the Lido each morning and enjoyed a first cup of coffee together while sharing cruising experiences. They sailed two weeks prior to us and were kind enough to leave detailed city maps of many of our future ports coming up on our current & second leg. We somehow missed saying good-by to them in Amsterdam…so if they’re reading this blog as they said they would…thanks again for your friendship and great conversation! We very much enjoyed having breakfast with you two – we appreciate the maps – please stay in touch! Don and Susan were another couple from Pt. St. Lucey, Florida – genuinely good folks – the kind you’d welcome as neighbors and permanent friends. Our final evening with these comrades drained over to the following morning – in fact, it was 2:15am before we finally said good-by. I can’t remember the last time I/we partied until the sun started rising! Oh, to be young again!

It’s Father’s Day and as we sail toward Alesund, Norway, the complexion on the ship has totally changed. Our normal gathering places are now empty – strange faces – minimal conversation. We’ve been through this many times over the years – it’s not easy saying good-by to ‘new’ friends – some will stay in touch – some will never look back. I rarely forget. When you meet the real good people in the world, you hang on to them because they’re an exceptional find. 

Our new dinner tablemates are a mix of old (one at 93), two around our ages, and one slightly younger as best we can tell. The latter from Savannah, GA., the couple from Colorado Springs. 

We took hundreds of photos in Vlissingen, Netherlands, Antwerp/Brussels, Belgium, - now posting a few. The cities were all quite charming – great architecture, fairly easy to get around, nice residents.